After the villa's female owner left, everyone returned to the hall. After a brief self-introduction, they began discussing how to care for the elderly person. At this moment, a small, slender girl with twin ponytails, Yan Youping, weakly raised her hand.
"Um... by the way, how did you all get on the bus?"
"I... I was originally on the high-speed train, playing with my phone. I got sleepy, so I... took a nap. When I woke up, I was already on the bus."
"Me too, I was working overtime at the office, and suddenly felt really tired..."
Everyone started talking, and they soon realized that they had all arrived on the bus in exactly the same way.
This eerie coincidence made their already uneasy hearts even more unsettled.
"Dammit... we're cursed..."
Liu Chengfeng, with his scruffy beard, muttered under his breath.
Yan Youping was silent for a moment before weakly saying, "Do you think... maybe this is some reality show crew inviting us like this?"
"After all, I've seen stuff like this on TV before..."
Before she could finish, Liu Chengfeng sneered and interrupted, "Have you already forgotten about that fat guy?"
"Do TV shows kill people and skin them?"
Yan Youping's heart lurched. Her eyes widened as she said, "What if... what if that was just a prop?"
"Is the blood a prop too?"
"Who knows, maybe it's chicken blood or dog blood..."
Yan Youping tried to convince herself, but suddenly, Ning Qiushui, who had been quiet, spoke up, shattering her last bit of hope: "It's not animal blood."
Everyone turned to look at Ning Qiushui. He seemed strangely calm, as though he had already accepted the situation.
"I used to be a veterinarian, so I'm very sensitive to smells. The blood of cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows, chickens, ducks, fish, and pigeons has distinct odors compared to human blood."
"For example, sheep blood smells very gamey, but human blood has a strong iron-like scent..."
"I can tell you for certain that the blood at the traffic light was definitely human blood. And it was... the freshest human blood!"
After hearing this, Yan Youping trembled in fear and hugged her knees, softly crying: "Please... don't say anymore... I beg you..."
Ning Qiushui saw her reaction and softened his tone a little.
He couldn't blame her for being scared. After all, any normal person would be traumatized by what they'd witnessed. It would likely leave a long-lasting psychological scar. Only those who dealt with corpses regularly could bear it better.
After all... it was too bloody!
"Let's focus on getting through these five days first..."
A man of average appearance, about 170 cm tall, with a gloomy expression, spoke up. His name was Xue Guize.
"We are seven people, and our task is to take care of the bedridden elderly person for five days. How should we divide the work?"
Everyone looked at each other, and when no one spoke up, Ning Qiushui suggested, "How about this: the three women will handle cooking and laundry, and the four men will take care of the elderly person..."
As soon as he finished, the beautiful woman wearing gold earrings, Wang Yuning, sarcastically said, "Oh, so women should cook and clean for you dirty men?"
"You guys are really lazy. The old thing is bedridden and can't move, and you all volunteered to take care of her... Do you think we're idiots?"
"You say you're taking care of her, but you probably just want to do nothing and laze around, right?"
Liu Chengfeng couldn't stand Wang Yuning's words and lifted his chin, sneering, "Smells bad... What a great girl, but why does she have so much crap coming out of her mouth?"
Wang Yuning's face darkened: "Who the hell are you insulting?"
Liu Chengfeng was about to retort, but Ning Qiushui interrupted, "If you don't want to cook or clean, I can switch with you. You go take care of the elderly person from 9 AM to 10 PM. After that, it'll probably be dark, and we can all wash up and rest."
Wang Yuning glanced at Ning Qiushui, then snorted, "Well... thanks."
Although she said this, her tone was full of mockery.
"By the way, it's already past five. I'm hungry. Aren't you supposed to be cooking? Go ahead."
Ning Qiushui gave Wang Yuning a deep look but said nothing. He turned to the two girls, "Do you want to switch?"
The girl named Yamo, who had remained silent until then, raised her hand.
"I... I'm sorry, but I really can't cook."
Compared to Wang Yuning's annoying attitude, Yamo was much more sincere.
It was not surprising; in this society, many pampered children couldn't cook, whether male or female.
"Any men who can cook?"
The remaining three men fell silent for a moment, and Liu Chengfeng impatiently said, "Forget it, forget it, I'll go with you to cook and do laundry!"
"A bunch of useless people, can't even cook or clean!"
Wang Yuning coldly retorted, "Dirty man, clean up your mouth!"
Liu Chengfeng glared and pointed at Wang Yuning, "If I weren't the type to hit women, you'd be dead today!"
Wang Yuning sneered, tapping her high heels as she stomped upstairs.
The kitchen was on the first floor, and the elderly person's room was on the second. The villa was large, and everyone went off to do their tasks.
Liu Chengfeng muttered angrily and followed Ning Qiushui to the kitchen, with the sobbing Yan Youping tagging along.
"Alright, stop cursing so much."
Once they entered the kitchen, Ning Qiushui got annoyed by Liu Chengfeng's incessant complaining and cut him off.
"What... how can you stand all this?"
Liu Chengfeng stared, confused.
Ning Qiushui opened the fridge and began taking out ingredients. "Do you really think taking care of that elderly person is an easy job?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Chengfeng's breath caught. "What do you mean, little brother?"
Ning Qiushui turned slowly and looked at Liu Chengfeng and Yan Youping. "Do you remember what the man in the suit from the black villa said to us?"
"He said they would answer our questions once we make it back alive from the Blood Gate."
"This means that the world after the Blood Gate... contains unimaginable dangers!"
Yan Youping's frail body trembled again. She whispered, "What... what dangers?"
Ning Qiushui shook his head. "We don't know yet... but since the task at the Blood Gate is to take care of the elderly, the danger is likely related to her."
"Just... be cautious."
After hearing Ning Qiushui's advice, Liu Chengfeng's eyes flickered, and he secretly calculated with his fingers. His previously gloomy expression vanished, and he grinned. "Little brother, I think you're right. I'll stick with you."
Ning Qiushui was a little surprised but shook his head, not saying anything further.
He took out the vegetables from the fridge and then looked toward the freezer.
Just as the villa's owner had said, there were plenty of meats there. They were chopped into pieces and packed into different bags.
Ning Qiushui took a bag marked "Beef Tenderloin," tossed it into the pot, and set the heat low to thaw it.
As he closed the fridge, his peripheral vision caught something unusual. He reached in and pulled out a hard block of meat from the back of the freezer.
The bag contained a lot of black, unidentified matter. The crushed ice covered most of it, and the vacuum packaging made it impossible to see what it was.
This bag didn't have any labels, likely because the owner had forgotten.
Ning Qiushui stared at the meat for a moment, and unexpectedly, Liu Chengfeng, the scruffy, rough man, leaned in closer. "Why is this meat black?"
Ning Qiushui shook his head and shoved the meat back into the fridge. "I don't know, maybe it's been frozen too long and gone bad."
The three of them were busy in the kitchen. To Ning Qiushui's surprise, Liu Chengfeng, who looked like a rough gangster, was actually quite skilled at cooking. He washed, cut, and cooked with the ease of an expert.
"Dinner's ready!"
Liu Chengfeng brought the cooked dishes to the table and shouted up to the second floor.
Then, without waiting for a response, he dug into the steaming rice with large bites.
Yan Youping watched Liu Chengfeng eat like a starving man and couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to wait for them?"
Liu Chengfeng shot her an annoyed look. "Wait for what?"
"Eat!"
After saying that, he continued devouring his food.
Clack, clack, clack—
Four sets of footsteps could be heard from upstairs. Wang Yuning was at the stairs and saw Liu Chengfeng scarfing down his food. She couldn't help but mock, "Look at you, eating like a hungry ghost..."
Had it been before, Liu Chengfeng would have shot back with something rude, but this time, he seemed to focus solely on his meal, completely ignoring Wang Yuning's taunts.
Wang Yuning, feeling a bit bored, stopped mocking and grabbed a bowl of food. She hastily threw some leftover vegetables on her plate and stomped upstairs.
The dining table fell into an oppressive silence.
No one knew what to say.
The darkness deepened, and by the end of the meal, even the beef in their bowls was hard to make out.
Only when Ning Qiushui stood up to turn on the light did they finally realize... the day had turned to night.
"Damn!"
"Why is it getting dark so fast?"
"It's not even seven yet!"
A man named Beidao exclaimed in surprise, his reaction making everyone uncomfortable.
"What's your problem?"
Xue Guize, whose expression had already been sour, frowned even more. "Didn't the villa owner say that the rainy season is coming? It gets dark quickly. There's nothing strange about it."
He scolded Beidao, his tone more intense than usual, but everyone understood why and stayed silent.
The atmosphere in the villa... was suffocating.
"Hey, hey, hey, is this how you take care of the elderly?"
"You've already eaten and left the bedridden old person starving upstairs? Does this seem right to you?"
"Do you honestly think taking care of an elderly person is about doing nothing?"
Liu Chengfeng, having finished his meal, put down his chopsticks and started picking his teeth. He threw a sarcastic remark at Wang Yuning, who was sitting across from him.
She clenched her fists, her gaze turning colder.
"Hmph, do you think everyone is like you, a lazy pig?"
"You're nothing but a disgusting, worm-like man."
She sneered, kicked off her high heels, grabbed a bowl of rice, and carelessly scooped up some leftover food. Then, she stomped upstairs.
Everyone watched her disappear into the pitch-black corridor upstairs. For some reason, their hearts started to race.
"Did you all stay on the second floor?"
At this moment, Ning Qiushui put down his bowl and turned to the three people responsible for taking care of the elderly person.
Xue Guize gave a brief "mm-hmm."
"We checked the second floor. Apart from the bedridden elderly person, there's no one else."
"Our rooms are across from the elderly person's room, on the same corridor."
Ning Qiushui asked, "Did you notice anything strange?"
Xue Guize shook his head and hesitated before answering, "In our room, there's this... strange smell. I can't describe it, but it's definitely unpleasant."
"Does it smell like that in all the rooms?"
"Yeah, all of them."
At this moment, the quiet girl named Yamo added softly, "There's something else strange..."
"The rooms the female owner prepared for us all have private bathrooms."
Beidao snorted, "What's strange about that? She's rich, doesn't want us running around to use the bathroom."
Ning Qiushui frowned.
"No... it's definitely strange."
"This villa is only for the female owner's family. Even if the male owner is here, that's just four people. Why are there so many bedrooms and bathrooms?"
"Maybe they just like to entertain guests?"
Beidao's voice faltered.
No one responded.
An eerie silence fell again.
Until...
A sharp, piercing scream from the second floor shattered the terrifying silence—
"Ah!!"